That was, well, it was something. But it was enough.
Utah grinded out a 29-23 victory over Oregon State in Corvallis Thursday night. And was it ever a grind.
For the first three quarters the game was in a word – ugly. It was a defensive showdown that leaned to being more of an offensive struggle. Three-and-outs and punts were the norm and yards, let alone points, were of the scarce variety.
Kendal Thompson, fresh off leading the Utes to a victory over then No. 8 UCLA, got the start for Utah under center, but after two ineffective quarters Thompson was replaced at the half by Travis Wilson. Wilson didn’t fair much better.
The two quarterbacks combined to go 9 of 18 for just 62 yards, but they had the luxury of one Devontae Booker in the backfield with them and the tailback eventually wore down the Oregon State defense.
It wasn’t pretty, but Booker was able to get it done for the Utes.
“Devontae Booker – that guy’s a beast,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “I think he is the best back in the Pac-12. He certainly was huge for us tonight”
With the passing game struggling the Utah offense turned into a one-man show by necessity, and it was Booker in the lead role. His stats were impressive – 32 carries for 229 yards and three TD’s – but it wasn’t just the production, it was his attitude and his ability to make things out of nothing that carried the Utes Thursday.
“It’s great to have a back like that, especially in games like this when the passing game is not clicking,” Wilson said. “He kind of bailed us out to be honest. He does a good job at making us hit the chains and that’s a big benefit to have.”
Utah leaned heavily on Booker in the second half and he answered the call bowling defenders over and scoring the go-ahead and game-winning touchdowns.
“I know the defense was getting worn down throughout the game and the harder I ran the more softened up they were getting,” Booker said. “I just continued to run hard and get in the end zone.”
Booker has emerged as a player that can be, and will be, trusted when the team needs a big play. The team trusted him Thursday and he delivered – time and time again.
Down 13-9 in the fourth quarter the Utes were faced with a long field to try and take the lead. On the nine play, 94-yard drive, Booker’s number was called seven times and he ran Utah right down the field. He converted the Utes first third down conversion of the game with a 53-yard run and later on a fourth-and-goal at the one yard line, Booker pounded his way into the end zone to give the Utes a late lead.
Utah ran seven plays in the two overtime sessions and five of those plays were handed off to Booker. He scored on two of them for the win.
“He’s a physical runner, great speed and he doesn’t wear out,” Whittingham said. “He loves the ball. He carried it 32 times tonight and just kept getting stronger it appeared as the game went on.”
Booker and the Utes were able to do just enough to get past the Beavers – something that couldn’t be said a year ago against Oregon State. Utah lost the 2013 high scoring, overtime shootout with the Beavers 51-48 and where that contest was filled with offensive attacks, the 2013 one was filled with offensive survival.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the group of guys, how they hung in there and kept fighting.,” Whittingham said. “There was adversity in the game and we went and worked through it. There’s going to be adversity in every Pac-12 contest; that’s the nature of the conference. There are good football teams in this league and every week you have to be ready to play the full 60, or in this case 60-plus with a couple of overtimes periods. The bottom line is that it was an outstanding job by our football team hanging in there.”
The Utes hung in there, and scrapped their way to an ugly victory. Looking around the landscape of college football, and especially the Pac-12, that feat is something that is growing uncommon.
USC lost on a Hail Mary to Arizona State, Arizona snagged defeat from the jaws of victory with a missed field goal against the Trojans and UCLA has not played up to its preseason hype.
The Utes also haven’t been free of late mistakes, surrendering a fourth quarter lead in a loss to Washington State.
The Pac-12 South may be decided by who can do just enough to win the types of games the Utes won on Thursday. It will be decided by who can just survive.
In a conference where anyone can beat anybody else and a division where five of the six teams see themselves as a contender, Utah has to find a way to survive.
That’s what they did against the Bruins, and it’s what they didn’t do against the Cougars. It doesn’t have to pretty, it doesn’t have to be dominant, it just has to be enough. On Thursday, behind a heavy dose of Devontae Booker, the Utes did just that – enough.
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